Skip to main content

Stocks end flat over poor economic indicators

Stocks closed flat on Friday as investors remained on the sidelines due to poor economic indicators, including external account vulnerability and rising circular debt, dealers said.Analyst Ahsan Mehanti from Arif Habib Corporation said stocks closed lower amid pressure in scrips across the board after Moody’s statement on external account vulnerability due to surging foreign debt.Investors showed concerns for hike in domestic gas prices and foreign outflows, whereas the pending energy sector circular debt also played a catalytic role in the bearish close, Mehanti added.Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 shares index shed 0.21 percent or 86.95 points to close at 41,910.90 points, whereas KSE-30 shares index lost 0.49 percent or 100.93 points to finish at 20,568.57 points.Of 341 active scrips, 170 advanced, 160 declined, and 11 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 166.083 billion shares compared to a turnover of 159.817 billion shares in the previous session.Analyst Radha Kirshan Khatri from WE Financial Services Ltd said the session was gloomy with lower participation since most of the investors remained sidelined due to FY18 closing and selling pressure on the back of the last day of future rollover.“Concerns over macroeconomic stability are driving investors’ sentiments, as foreign exchange reserves are continuously deteriorating,” the analyst said.Current account deficit widened to $16 billion in July-May FY18, pushing the economy into stress, while the index heavy oil and banking sectors dragged the market in the red zone, Radha added.Analyst Zeeshan Afzal of Insight Securities said the last session of the fiscal year ended on a negative note, with KSE-100 posting a negative return of 10 percent during June ’17 and July ’18.The highest gainers were Colgate Palmolive, up Rs93.53 to close at Rs3,149.00/share, and Pakistan Tobacco, up Rs77.40 to finish at Rs2,230.00/share.Companies that booked highest losses were Rafhan Maize, down Rs151.00 to close at Rs7,650.00/share, and Bhanero Textile, down Rs42.49 to close at Rs807.49/share.K-Electric Limited recorded the highest volumes with a turnover of 12.078 million shares. It gained Rs0.23 to close at Rs5.68/share.It was followed by Silk Bank Limited with a turnover of 9.583 million shares. The bank’s scrip gained Rs0.23 to close at Rs1.36/share.The lowest volumes were witnessed in Fauji Cement. It recorded a turnover of 6.838 million shares, whereas the scrip lost Rs0.44 to end at Rs22.85/share.

from The News International - Business https://ift.tt/2lHJkhX

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Student council oath-taking ceremony

Islamabad:The Millennium College hosted a Student Council Investiture Ceremony 2019 at its Flagship Campus, I-9/3, says a press release.The student council comprising of AS & A Level, IBDP program and IGCSE’s vowed under oath that they will be active and responsible members of the student executive council and will abide by the laws made by the college and the managing body to guarantee themselves and the student body a better campus life.Ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi graced the occasion and inducted the School’s Head Boy Sarosh Atif and Head Girl Qirrat Ali as well as the Executive Council Members of all clubs and societies established within the school system. After administering the oath, Ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi along with the Founder & Chairman The Millennium Education Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq, Director International Qualifications Azra Tahir and Principal of Millennium College, Campus I-9/3, Muneeze Muzzafar awarded sashes, badges and certificates to the members of the co...

3 drug pushers, bootlegger held

Islamabad :Islamabad Industrial Area Police have arrested three drug pushers and a bootlegger besides recovery of narcotics and 120 liter liquor from them, a police spokesman said.According to details, a police team of Industrial Area police station arrested three drug pushers namely Kamran, Irfan and Shamoon Masih and recovered 320 gram heroin and 210 gram hashish from them,.Another police team arrested a bootlegger namely Ansar Javed and recovered 120 liter wine, bottles, stickers and brewing equipment from him. Cases have been registered against these nabbed persons and further investigation is underway from them.SP (Industrial Area) Zubair Ahmad Shaikh has said that Industrial Area zone police is doing its job efficiently and crackdown against criminals would be continued.Despite the sit in, he said Islamabad Police has been performing its duty quite efficiently and has successfully managed to maintain the daily life in the Capital.In this regard, Senior Police officers including S...

Pragmatic steps taken to implement Axle Load Control regime on NH&MP

Islamabad: Ministry of Communications has taken pragmatic steps to implement the Axle Load Control regime on Motorways & National Highways in the country. Sole objective of this move is to control travelling of overloaded vehicles which lead to fatal accidents besides damaging the national asset of road network of billions of rupees.Prior to implementation of axle load control regime, a technical committee was formed, consisting of officers from Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority which remained in constant contacts with transport community, Members of the Chambers of Commerce and stakeholders hailing from all the provinces. This technical committee visited their offices and held detailed discussions in series of meetings and took them into confidence to facilitate implementation of Axle Load Control regime. The stakeholders assured of their full cooperation and subsequently, implementation of Axle Load Control was realized which is in progress.It is worth to ...